Against the Giants: Liberation of Geoff

The Mirrored Hall: Part Eleven

Session 39

Zarkov talks to the strange lobster-crab-squid creature, who turns out to be named Blinovitch, a sea-demon who has been imprisoned by the priests of the temple for centuries; in exchange for its freedom, the sea-demon will lead them to a way out, a hidden portal marked with a hexagon symbol.

They agree and he leads them down to one of the flooded corridors, and wades straight in; they send Corvin to follow him, since he is still a dragon and has bigger lungs to hold his breath. In the water there are a pair of skeleton sharks, which prompts Corvin to rush out up some stairs to draw a deeper breath. Idni, feeling his usual reckless and impatient self, wades in too, after tying a rope around his waist and telling the others to pull him back if he tugs on the rope. Corvin dives back in and attacks the skeleton shark with tooth and claws. Idni meets up with them, destroying the skeleton after the dragon has splintered most of its bones. Corvin is spotted by another shark, and attacks that one too.

Meanwhile, Idni finds the stairs and walks out of the water, taking a few deep breaths. Corvin follows, withdrawing as the shark tears into his flesh. Up the stairs, Idni tugs on the rope, signalling the others to pull him back; he walks back into the water, and, in the virtual darkness (illuminated faintly by the coral, which gives off a pale glow) is pulled into the midst of skeleton sharks and a pair of humanoid skeletons dressed in the tattered robes of priests. A shark cuts through the rope, Corvin dives in and attacks it, and Idni flees back up the steps, closely followed by one of the priests.

The others are surprised when the rope goes slack, and even more surprised when a skeletal priest appears on the steps; Ungrid wades in to attack it, but not before it summons a swarm of crabs that ooze out of the water and nip at the adventurers. Zarkov turns undead, sending a skeletal shark fleeing, but it has no effect on the priest. Halmary wades in to help Ungrid, and behind them Sinnba-Vek lets loose with a trio of magic missiles, burning into the bones of the skeleton.

Corvin moves through the water, out into a larger chamber with a balcony out of the water. He flies up and looks round, spotting more skeletons in the water, and the head of a statue (lobster-headed) sticking out. Idni, alone and in near darkness, moves up the stairs and hears movement behind him: the clacking of crab feet and bones on stone; he hurries up the steps to a doorway that he shoves open, passes through, and pulls shut behind him.

The party is split: Ungrid and Halmary deal with the crabs and skeletal priest, withdrawing to allow Zarkov to bless them all; the priest cancels it with a bane on them. On the other side of the flooded corridor, Corvin spies another priest and lets loose with a burning cone of fire. Alone in the dark, Idni retreats as the door is forced open, crabs pouring in and the priest following. Idni backs off through another door, finding himself alone in a room with an old forge and no way out.

Ungrid finishes off the crabs, killing most and scattering the rest. Halmary tries to turn the priest, but fails too. Zarkov steps up to stab with his spear, but missed completely. On the other side, Corvin attacks the lone priest, breaking bones but taking a few stabs in return. Idni finds himself trapped, and the crabs swarm over him, bleeding him dry.

Halmary finishes off the priest, and the two dwarves leave their packs with him as they take a deep breath and enter the water: Zarkov illuminates their way with a light spell, and as they half-walk, half-swim they spot the turned shark and Ungrid smashes it on their way past.

Idni rummages in his pack, suffering more wounds as the crabs mercilessly cut him, and tries to burn them with some oil; it goes wide, merely splashing them.

Corvin finally smashes the skeleton, but is badly wounded. He starts to make his way back to the others.

Alone in the forge, Idni falls to the constant nipping of the crabs.

Underwater, Ungrid and Zarkov spot Corvin and follow him up the stairs out of the water, meeting the returning crabs and priest on the way out: Corvin breathes fire on them (his last of the day), incinerating all of them. They find Idni slumped in the corner and Zarkov tends to his wounds, using the staff of healing to aid in his recovery: Idni comes round, but is grievously wounded [two weeks rest needed]; worse, he has lost his left eye [-2 to ranged attacks] when a crab tore it free.